The Alabama Supreme Court sided 5-3 on Friday with the Pelham Board of Education (PBE) in a property dispute with the City of Helena over a school athletics field project.
The conflict centered around PBE purchasing 52 acres in June 2021 within the corporate limits of Helena with the purpose of developing and building a school athletics field and parking lot facility for nearby Pelham High School students.
Helena and Pelham are next to each other geographically, and they are both located in Shelby County, but public school students in Helena attend Shelby County Schools.
“We were disappointed with the outcome of the decision published today, but we value the system, the Justices, and their ruling. With this being a case of first impression, the city thought it best to fully vet the issue. With today’s ruling all cities are able to go buy property anywhere in the State and do as they may without the city that the land resides having no say so, but extend public services without taxation,” Helena Mayor J. Brian Puckett told 1819 News on Friday.
The ruling today by the Alabama Supreme Court upheld an earlier ruling in Shelby County Circuit Court in 2023.
Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Tom Parker joined with Associate Justices Brady Mendheim, Jr., Sarah Stewart, Jay Mitchell and Greg Shaw for the majority opinion.
“Section 16-11-9 does not inhibit the PBE's authority to construct and operate an educational facility on the property because that statute does not restrict a city board of education's powers of administration and management of its public schools to the geographic boundaries of the city it serves or to the territory annexed by that city. Moreover, Helena's zoning ordinance cannot be enforced against the athletic-field project because the PBE's construction and operation of the Athletic field constitutes a State governmental function — public education — that is exempt from the application of municipal zoning ordinances. Accordingly, the circuit court did not err in declaring that the PBE had the authority to acquire, develop, and use the property for the athletic-field project and in ordering Helena not to enforce its zoning ordinance to prevent the development or use of the athletic field. Therefore, we affirm the circuit court's July 5, 2023, order,” the justices wrote in the majority.
Alabama Supreme Court Associate Justices William Sellers, Kelli Wise and Tommy Bryan dissented from the majority’s opinion. Associate Justice Greg Cook recused himself from the case.
“Because I believe that § 16-11-9 generally defines the geographic limits within which a city board of education can exercise its powers, I respectfully dissent. I would reverse the judgment of the trial court and hold that § 16-11-9 prohibits the development and use of the athletic-field project on real property within the corporate limits of Helena that has not been annexed by Pelham as part of the Pelham school district,” Sellers said in his dissenting opinion. “I am concerned that the main opinion gives a city board of education the ability to purchase and use property anywhere in Alabama, with the sole limitation being that it serve only those students living within the geographic boundaries of the city of its formation.”
He continued, “Reading the statutes governing city boards of education together leads only to one conclusion: a city board of education is limited to using property within the geographic boundaries of the city of its formation in order to serve the students living within those boundaries. If a city board of education needs to expand and use property not located within those geographic boundaries, § 16-11-9 requires that such additional property must be annexed into the city before the city board of education may use it.”
Pelham City Schools Superintendent Chuck Ledbetter told 1819 News on Friday, “We are gratified by today’s Supreme Court ruling and by the thoughtful judicial analysis that supported the Court’s decision.”
“We will be consulting with our attorneys in the near future in order to develop an appropriate plan for addressing claims and matters that are related to the Helena litigation, but that were not involved in the appeal that was decided today,” Ledbetter said.
Alabama Supreme Court Opinion by Caleb Taylor on Scribd
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